Stereotypes and 'the other'

Debby Thompson discusses the various approaches to acting and portraying race in her article “Is Race a Trope?” She discusses the Naturalistic approach and how it states that an actor “should ‘become’ or ‘be’ the character he/she is playing,” but this does not portray the truth of a character, especially the race of the character. Anna Deavere Smith, on the other hand, believes that Smith “the goal of performance becomes, then, not authenticity but exploration of the gap between self and other, actor and character, as well as of the gaps within our seemingly linear ideological narratives” (130). I believe that this is how truth in a character can come about. In portraying someone’s race, you almost have to be prejudice or racist and label them as ‘the other’, in order to see the differences that make that race. It is not racist to understand that an African American who grew up in the ghetto has a certain way of life, based on his/her experiences, acts very similar to any other African American who grew up in the ghetto, yet both act completely differently than a white suburban male. In portraying another race, the actor has to play into the stereotypes and racial profiling, in order to bring the truth of the character out. As Smith did, you have to perform the person as if they were performing themselves. Ignoring the stereotypes and racism is to ignore race altogether, which as Carroll Smith-Rosenberg (one of Deavere Smith’s characters) states “Ignoring race enables white folks to escape the label "prejudiced and, at the same time, avoid dealing with the very real problem of systemic racism in the American economy” (135). This is apparent in many American films and television shows, where they have different races intermingling without the presence of stereotypes. This sends a mixed message to minorities, as they are influenced to believe that America is a country where everyone is equal. Smith, on the other hand, blatantly exposes the racial differences in her performances, which lets people know that racism does exist and it is not just an excuse used by minorities. This portrayal of ‘truth’ of character is very rare as it employs stereotypical beliefs, but it is the only way to provide a real voice that properly represents each reach.